Giving Back To My Roots!!!

I went to my old stomping grounds, Glenville High School on May 4th for the Glenville Alumni Basketball Game. I had a GREAT time. I saw lots of old friends & laughed with them as we caught up on life. I felt so FREE coming back to my roots. One thing I always keep in mind is finding ways to stay connected to where I come from. I do plan on moving very soon, but I’ll never be too far away that I can’t give back. Something many people don’t know is when I was 18 years and in college, I did just that. My guidance counselor, Mr. Chinchar and I talked about me doing some motivational chats with junior and senior students of my alma mater. I got home from my first college break January 2004 and was sitting in Mr. Mandel’s classroom with bright-eyed seniors ready to share my wisdom about college life.

Mind you I’d recently graduated June 2004, now I’m in front of the class as a guest speaker. That for me was one of the highlights of my career. I spoke to a number of classes during the course of 6 years. Once I graduated college my priorities changed, but the message remained. I gave students practical advice and things they should do before going to college. I was a first generation in my family to go to college and coming from an urban environment where many men my age didn’t pursue this route was impressive. I’ll never know how many students took my advice and ran with it, but I know for sure that I gave what I could and nothing less. I remember my senior year and different speakers would come speak to us about the importance of college and choosing a good career. However, they gave the cookie cutter version, which I knew wouldn’t help me. I said to myself, “One day I’ll come back and give the students the real deal about college life.” Who knew less than six months later I’d begin that journey? The power of writing things down & speaking your life into existence is something I live by daily.

I said all that to say this: Understand that your branches can’t grow without strong roots in your foundation. You have to find ways to give back because many of our young people need guidance, as we once did.

How will you pull someone up with your strength Starrahs?

Glenville Tarblooder Always

-Willie J

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Pursuing Greatness 2012 Feature

College Starrah

Hi Starrahs:

I’m so excited to share with everyone my newest article. My friend, Ashley L. Hill runs her website College Prep Ready, which is the go to place for all of your college needs & more. This week is Pursuing Greatness 2012– a webinar that features experts from all over the world to give advice to the youth about the college experience. This is the 2nd year for this event and I’m honored to be a part of it again. There is no greater JOY for me then to share my wealth of College Knowledge with the YOUTH and anyone else who’s willing to listen. Check out my featured article “How To Prepare For College Mogul Style”…and give me feed back. Also browse around the site to see what catches your eye. Checkout all the advice from other experts too because we can never have too much knowledge. A BIG SALUTE to Ashley L. Hill for being a trailblazer and creating a path for the next generation to follow.

Writing With Purpose,

– Willie J